We now embarked on our return voyage.Raimundo cut two slender poles, one for a mast and the other for a sprit-- to these he rigged a sail we had brought in the boat, for we were to return by the open river, and expected a good wind to carry us to Caripi.As soon as we got out of the channel we began to feel the wind--the sea-breeze, which here makes a clean sweep from the Atlantic.Our boat was very small and heavily laden; and when, after rounding a point, I saw the great breadth we had to traverse (seven miles), I thought the attempt to cross in such a slight vessel foolhardy in the extreme.The waves ran very high, there was no rudder, Raimundo steered with a paddle, and all we had to rely upon to save us from falling into the trough of the sea and being instantly swamped were his nerve and skill.There was just room in the boat for our three selves, the dogs, and the game we had killed, and when between the swelling ridges of waves in so frail a shell, our destruction seemed inevitable; as it was, we shipped a little water now and then.Joaquim assisted with his paddle to steady the boat-- my time was fully occupied in bailing out the water and watching the dogs, which were crowded together in the prow, yelling with fear-- one or other of them occasionally falling over the side and causing great commotion in scrambling in again.Off the point was a ridge of rocks, over which the surge raged furiously.Raimundo sat at the stern, rigid and silent, his eye steadily watching the prow of the boat.It was almost worth the risk and discomfort of the passage to witness the seamanlike ability displayed by Indians on the water.The little boat rode beautifully, rising well with each wave, and in the course of an hour and a half we arrived at Caripi, thoroughly tired and wet through to the skin.
On the 16th of January, the dry season came abruptly to an end.
The sea-breezes, which had been increasing in force for some days, suddenly ceased, and the atmosphere became misty; at length heavy clouds collected where a uniform blue sky had for many weeks prevailed, and down came a succession of heavy showers, the first of which lasted a whole day and night.This seemed to give a new stimulus to animal life.On the first night there was a tremendous uproar--tree-frogs, crickets, goat-suckers, and owls all joining to perform a deafening concert.One kind of goat-sucker kept repeating at intervals throughout the night a phrase similar to the Portuguese words, "Joao corta pao,"--"John, cut wood"-- a phrase which forms the Brazilian name of the bird.An owl in one of the Genipapa trees muttered now and then a succession of syllables resembling the word "Murucututu."Sometimes the croaking and hooting of frogs and toads were so loud that we could not hear one another's voices within doors.
